Clark denies student's lawsuit claim that the university was biased in its sexual misconduct probe

Scott O'Connell Telegram & Gazette Staff @ScottOConnellTG

Sunday

Sep 1, 2019 at 6:23 PM

Clark University has denied a student’s allegation that it was biased in its handling of a female student’s sexual misconduct claim against him, and has asked a federal court to dismiss his lawsuit against the school.

The alleged victim, who according to the original complaint accused the plaintiff of removing his condom during sex with her, also requested the suit be tossed in a separate filing.

Both defendants submitted their responses this past week to "John Doe’s" lawsuit, which he filed in U.S. District Court in Worcester in April.

In that complaint, Mr. Doe denied that he took off his condom – known as "stealthing," and considered a sexual offense on many college campuses – and accused Clark of operating a slanted tribunal on the female student’s claims. He was eventually found guilty by the university, and as part of his punishment banned from campus leadership positions for one year and forced to write an essay about the incident.

Part of his argument was that Clark has become overzealous in its response to sexual misconduct claims on campus, which resulted in him, as the accused assailant, being deprived rights under the university’s system for dealing with such complaints. He also specifically accused the female student of blackmailing him by threatening to report him to the university if he didn’t buy morning-after contraception for her after their encounter.

In its answer, however, Clark argued its judicial process "did not lead to an erroneous outcome," and was "based on an unbiased review of the information collected during the investigation." The university further argued its policies were in place for everybody, and not "selectively enforced" against Mr. Doe specifically, as well as consistent with its obligations under Title IX.

The female student, "Jane Smith," in her own motion to dismiss, defended her case against Mr. Doe, and painted his lawsuit as a "SLAPP" suit – short for "strategic litigation against public participation" – whose "sole purpose … is to intimidate Ms. Smith for exercising her rights under the university’s Title IX protocol."

In a third filing this past week, the other individual defendants named in Mr. Doe’s complaint, including Clark president David Angel, made their own argument for dismissal on the grounds Title IX prohibits individuals from being targeted in a "private right of action."

Mr. Doe’s lawsuit is the second federal case Clark University has faced in the past four years over its response to sexual assault claims on campus. The previous complaint, lodged by a male student who was kicked off campus after the school found him responsible for raping a female student, ended in a settlement in 2016.

Scott O’Connell can be reached at Scott.O’Connell@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottOConnellTG

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